7 Ways to Lose 7 Pounds…
If you’re like many, you may have a little extra baggage hanging around your middle that you’d like to unload.
Today’s email is from Shawna Kaminski who’s a female fat loss over 40 expert.
It will focus on nutrition, but you’ll want to pair these tips up with an easy to follow exercise plan that will address your belly fat specifically.
You’ll find a perfect companion plan here, especially if you’re a woman over 35.
Let’s dig into those nutrition hacks from Shawna:
Surprisingly, it’s not ‘actually’ rocket science to drop weight for most people. However, it does take CONSISTENT application of a few principles.
In fact, you may already know some of the principles below that are really just ‘common sense’ when you think about them.
Sadly, sometimes a busy life pushes common sense out the window. So while some of these things may not seem like a ‘sexy new magic bullet’, the good news is that easy and sustainable fat loss is achievable for ANY one when you incorporate these principles into your lifestyle.
- Increase Protein
If you want to get off the energy roller coaster, include a minimum of 10 grams of protein at meals and snacks. Protein helps stabilize blood sugar and by moderating swings in blood sugar, your energy will then be much more steady.
It’s so much easier to avoid temptation when you’re not starving. As well, you can lessen cravings for caffeine and sugar, which tend to be the ‘go to’ for many when energy crashes.
Leidy Hetal. The role of protein in weight loss and maintenance. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , April 29, 2015
- Add Healthy Fat
Contrary to what people used to think, fat does NOT make you fat. In fact, studies prove that increasing the ‘right’ type of fat will aid in fat loss.
Seed and vegetable oils and especially trans fats will increase inflammation in the body. These fats aren’t heat stable, they oxidize during the cooking process and they’re linked to a variety of health issues.
Your BEST bet is to include coconut oil in your diet daily.
Coconut oil, although a saturated fat, actually lowers stroke and heart disease. It’s versatile, delicious and easy to cook with.
- Reduce Sugar
This principle needs little explanation…
Sugar causes inflammation, which can lead to achy joints and lethargy. When you eat sugar, you crave more of it and eating more sugar causes energy crashes as noted above.
To reduce sugar intake, an easy rule of thumb is to read labels and imagine the sugar content of a food in teaspoons of sugar.
It’s easy to figure out your sugar consumption by reading food labels. The best way to visualize sugar content is to take the carbohydrate count and divide it by four.
For example: if a serving size has 28 g of carbs, then that would amount to 7 teaspoons of sugar.
Your goal should be to limit sugar consumption to a serving size of no more than 4 teaspoons of sugar or 16g of carbs at a time.
Try to keep refined and process sugars out of your diet completely.
- Drink More Water
Before eating anything, try drinking water because often times you may just be thirsty and not hungry. Adequate hydration is a fat loss key.
It also goes without saying that you need to eliminate drinking your calories.
There’s no room for sugar laden fruit juices or even diet soda in a healthy nutrition plan. Although there may be some nutritional value in fruit juice, you get none of the fiber and all of the sugar.
Artificial sweeteners in diet soda wreak havoc in your body because the body just doesn’t know what to do with these chemicals so inflammation and bloating results.
- Eat Carbs!
Carbs are NOT the devil. In fact, your brain needs carbohydrates to function. Your ‘go to’ carbs should come mainly from vegetables and 1-2 fruits daily.
Starchy carbs should be chosen from complex low glycemic options such as quinoa sweet potatoes and rice. For those that aren’t gluten intolerant, sprouted grain bread is a good choice, in moderation.
Pastore R. et al. Paleolithic nutrition improves plasma lipid concentrations of hypercholesterolemic adults to a greater extent… School of Health Sciences, Eastern Michigan University: June 2015; vol. 35 pg.474–479
- Are You Really Hungry?
It’s helpful to get in touch with your appetite to find out if you’re really hungry or if your eating is fueled by emotion, habit, social pressure or boredom.
Eating while doing other things like driving or watching TV is almost always a recipe for overeating. Being mindful by tasting every bite helps you to slow down, enjoy your food more and eat less.
- My Best Fat Loss Mantra: Never Starving/Never Stuffed
To avoid energy crashes and over eating, it’s best to eat a little before you get too hungry and stop eating before you get full.
It takes up to 20 minutes for your belly to tell your brain that it’s ‘full’, so slow your eating down!
Often if you’re starving, you’ll stuff your face and by the time your brain gets the message that your belly is full, you’ll need to undo your pants.
There you have it, consistent application of these 7 tips will help you drop weight, I promise.
So will THIS.
Especially if you’re a woman over 35 who struggles with ‘menopause belly’.
Shawna K is over 50 and she certainly knows what she’s talking about:
Your coach,
Craig Ballantyne, CTT
Certified Turbulence Trainer